THE SECOND COMING?

Former Supreme Court judge Rohinton Nariman said it was time to do away with sedition laws and allow free speech. But this does not mean spewing hatred against a community. Law enforcement must be robust to be effective and the accused must face law

- Justice Kamaljit Singh Garewal

FREEDOM of speech is a basic right. No one can or should object to what people think or say to each other or about each other. Politicians being politicians, address large crowds of eager listeners and say many things to garner support. They sometimes also say unpalatable things which can cause deep hurt to some people. The State may step in when the speaker has said something which tends to incite people to violence or commit crime. The State should not let the incitement pass and hope there is no violence. Being fore-warned, the police can quell the riot, arrest the accused and save lives. This often is not easily done because the political masters may not want the violence to stop, at least for a few days, to get the desired political mileage from it.

Here we are concerned with a speaker who uttered such vituperative hatred calling for extermination of a large number of fellow citizens because they followed a different faith. It was a call to start a pogrom, a planned riot to murder people in large numbers. There should be no other opinion, no second thoughts. The State must step in to put a the speaker through the process of a fair and impartial trial. The trial judge shall decide his guilt or innocence, and the quantum of sentence after considering the defence put forward.